Chapter 22
22
By the time they reached Fairbanks, it was time for some food. Gil was exhausted, though he tried not to show it. They found a small Indian restaurant that Ani judged to be semi-authentic.
“I’m no expert,” she warned him. “I’ve never even been to India. All I know is my grandmother’s cooking, and it spoiled me for anything served in an American restaurant.”
“What do I have to do to get invited to your grandmother’s house?” he joked. “I was posted in Delhi for six months and it was the best eating I ever did.”
“I can’t believe you’ve spent more time in India than I have,” she grumbled as she slid into the leather booth. The vibrant golds and saffrons and crimsons of the restaurant’s color scheme were the perfect backdrop for her dark hair and shining eyes. Then again, most things were, he’d discovered. “I’m going to travel to India someday, maybe after all this dies down.”
“All this?”
“When I first came to Firelight Ridge, Molly was in the middle of the whole Chilkoot mess. The next time, it was because Charlie got shot with an arrow. Now this weirdness with Victor. That one tiny town has more drama than a Bollywood movie.”
Gil hadn’t given any thought to what would happen after “all this” died down. His leave from the service was indefinite, but once he passed the physical, he could go back whenever he wanted. He was already fully recovered, but he’d intended to make an appointment closer to the end of summer, to maximize his rest time—and his twin time. But he could probably ace that physical right now.
Did he want to go back to work? Not really, he had to admit.
Maybe that phase of his life really was over. Maybe Lachlan was right about doing something less dangerous. Maybe he was ready for a different kind of existence, one that had room for…a woman.
Don’t get carried away, idiot. You have to survive “all this” first.
After they’d placed their orders, he dug out Victor’s leather pouch and set it on the table. “You said you had a dream about Victor, right? Maybe it’s telling you we need to take another look at his notes.”
“You mean his hallucination journal?”
“I’ve been wondering if it’s some kind of code. Maybe he was worried about someone else finding it, so he wrote it in a cryptic way that sounds like gibberish.”
“Then he did an excellent job. It is gibberish.” She tugged one of the slips of paper from the pouch and read out loud. “ The curl of smoke winds through valleys where silver strikes sparks of cosmic delight . The connections are electric. We know nothing, and everything. ” She shook her head ruefully. “I’m sorry, but he was on something when he wrote this. I’m thinking…LSD? Do people even do that anymore? Does Victor?”
He had to think about that. “I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s the kind of guy who wants to try everything for himself. Whenever he worked with indigenous groups, he’d eat the food they made, and try their medicinal cures on himself. He told me he got rid of his eczema that way.”
“Okay. Well.” She scanned the paper again, running her finger along the words. The bangles she wore clinked against the glass tabletop. She was so beautiful to him, it was hard to focus on anything except her slim brown hand. “Do you think he was trying some kind of medicinal cure that caused hallucinations?”
“That’s a strong possibility. I like that.”
A plate of garlic naan arrived, and they tore off pieces while they brainstormed.
“I’m still confused about why he’d bury this in the yard. He obviously wanted you to find it. But it’s so cryptic that it means nothing to anyone except him.”
“Maybe not.” Something occurred to Gil that he should have remembered a long time ago. “I’ve heard Victor mention a research assistant. Maybe he’ll talk to us.”
“Gil! Lachlan’s not the only genius in the McGowan family.” Ani gave him a radiant smile as he did a quick search on his phone.
“Got him. Nyx Polestar. Some name, huh? Should I call him?”
She set down her naan and blinked at him. “That fast? How?”
He grinned. “I move like a shadow in the dark. I’m a man of mystery and intrigue. I’m a ghost you’ll never see coming, but you’ll know when I was there. I’m?—”
“Okay, okay, give it a rest. You’re James Bond, blah blah blah.”
“Actually, I remembered that Lachlan had mentioned his name, and it’s not exactly a common one.”
Nyx Polestar agreed to meet them in the office that he shared with Victor, so long as they brought him some extra vindaloo. They packed their food into takeout containers and said goodbye to the first chance at a sit-down meal since “all this” had begun.
Victor’s research assistant turned out to be a wiry young man with a face tattoo and a half-shaved head. The other half had long black hair to his shoulder. He dove into the takeout they brought him as if he hadn’t eaten in days, and didn’t seem to notice that they carefully avoided all physical contact, even shaking hands.
“I haven’t seen Victor,” he told them through a mouthful of samosa. “But I know he came through here a couple days ago. He took some samples and left. Didn’t even write a note. Only reason I knew was because I’d checked that batch the day before. Is he okay?”
“That’s what we’d like to know,” said Gil. “Has he ever disappeared like this before?”
“Yes, but he’s usually in phone contact, unless he’s somewhere super-remote. He likes to blow up my phone twenty-four-seven with every random idea he gets. Right now the silence is messing me up.” He tapped the shaved side of his head, where an inked design swirled. “I got this so I could channel the ancestors, other planes of existence, you know? Not even a blip from Victor.”
He caught Gil’s expression, and flipped him off. “I’m open to all kinds of learning. Science isn’t all tests and labs, you know. We Natives have our own ways, and we’ve been here a lot longer.”
Gil flung up his hands, conceding the point. “Whatever works.”
Ani stepped into the awkward moment. “I can see why Victor chose you as his research assistant. He’s very open-minded too. Isn’t that why he tries a lot of the indigenous treatments he studies?”
“That’s one reason. Also, he’s a crazy mutha.” Nyx finished his container of samosas and glugged down half a bottle of water. He propped his legs, crossed at the ankles, on a free chair. “Victor is a cool dude. I like working for him. I don’t want to get him into trouble.”
“He might already be in trouble, that’s what we’re doing here. We just want to talk to him. I’m a friend of his from Firelight Ridge.”
Nyx swung his gaze toward Ani. “And you, beautiful?”
Tension ran through Gil’s muscles, which was an absurd reaction to an innocent compliment. He forced himself to relax.
“I only met him recently,” said Ani. “I’m a doctor and he seemed ill. I tried to help him”
“Ill?” Nyx narrowed his eyes. “What kind of ill?”
“Feverish. Rambling. Sweating. Does that mean something to you?”
Nyx folded his lips together and shook his head. “I told you I don’t want to get him in trouble.”
Ani leaned forward and spoke more urgently. “Then give us some idea of where to find him. That’s all we want.”
When he didn’t answer, Gil wanted to throw something at the wall, like maybe that leftover vindaloo. At least that mess would be easier to clean up.
He shifted gears. “Why do you think Victor could be in trouble? Has he done something wrong?”
Nyx glared at him. “Why would I fucking tell you that even if he did?”
“Okay. Okay. Let’s start somewhere else. What were you working on with Victor?”
Relaxing, Nyx finally answered a question. “We have a research grant to study the relationship between mycelium and permafrost. Mycelium is my area of study, that’s why he hired me.”
“Mycelium?”
“Fungus. Mushrooms,” he said impatiently. “There’s a whole world under your feet, a massive network of billions of miles of mycelium. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies, and that’s generally the only part we see. Victor wanted to learn more about how mycelium behaves in permafrost conditions. That’s the official grant.”
Official grant. That phrasing struck Gil as odd. Was there an unofficial study going on at the same time?
He thought about the pouch of notes. Maybe they had stumbled across some kind of hallucinogenic mushroom during the course of their research, and Nyx was worried it would get them into trouble.
Should he show Nyx the notes?
Why hadn’t Victor at any point mentioned Nyx—to Gil on the phone, or to Ani in the note he’d tucked into her pocket? Don’t trust anyone.
He decided not to share the notes just yet.
“What exactly was Victor working on at the Smoky Lake Institute? Did you hear what happened to it?”
Nyx’s face closed up. “Yeah. That sucks.”
Something about his reaction struck Gil as off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. “What was he working on there?” he prompted.
“Look, you two should just leave this alone. Whatever Victor’s into, it’s his business. He knows what he’s doing.”
Without a doubt, this guy knew something. Gil just had to shake him up. “Does he know that he could have been exposed to a zombie virus?”
Nyx’s chair, which he’d been tilting on its back legs, came crashing to the floor. “Who told you that?”
“So you knew.”
Nyx looked at him as if he was an idiot. “You’re really in over your head here. Of course I knew.”
“How? Did the CDC test him?”
Nyx didn’t answer. Gil pushed further.
“Is that what he was working on in Firelight Ridge? Some kind of indigenous plant-based treatment?”
That would make sense, but then why wasn’t he in contact with the CDC instead of running from them?
Ani took over, stepping into the “good cop” role—or maybe the attractive, slightly older woman role, judging by the glint in Nyx’s eye. “I hope you weren’t exposed too, Nyx. Were you working in that area as well?”
Nyx snorted. “I’m not worried about that.”
“Really?” She gave him a glowing smile. “I like your confidence. And since you’re a scientist, you must have a very good reason for it. Did Victor share your confidence, or do you have something he didn’t?”
The kid looked like he wanted to tell her anything and everything she wanted to know. Gil decided he should give them a little space. He got up and stepped to a metal desk shoved against the wall. “Is this Victor’s desk?”
“Yeah, yeah, go for it.” Nyx didn’t even look away from Ani.
As Gil had expected, Nyx relaxed as soon as he had Ani’s attention to himself. Gil scanned Victor’s workspace. Computer terminal—screen locked, of course. No laptop, because Victor probably had it with him. A stress toy shaped like a mushroom. A small electric kettle and a one-cup espresso maker. None of it was remotely helpful.
It didn’t matter. Under Ani’s soft gaze and gentle questions, Nyx finally started talking.